Europe's First Truck CO2 Limits Pit Automakers Against Retailers

Though they only make up five percent of road traffic, trucks account for a quarter of EU road emissions (David McNew/Getty Images)

They may have escaped the watchful eye of climate regulators until now, but today European truckmakers were handed their first limits on CO2 emissions by the European Union.

By 2025, average CO2 emissions from new trucks will have to be 15 percent lower than in 2019, and by 2030, they must be at least 30 percent lower, according to a proposal put forward today by the European Commission.

"All sectors must contribute to meet our climate commitments under the Paris Agreement,” said EU energy chief Miguel Arias Cañete. “That's why, for the first time ever, we are proposing EU standards to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles”.

Cañete said the limits will be a boon to the EU economy because it will save transport companies, who use trucks to make deliveries, €25,000 by 2025 thanks to lower fuel consumption. Small businesses will particularly benefit, he said.

Trucks make up just five percent of all road traffic, but account for a quarter of EU road CO2 emissions – both because they are larger and because they are on the road more than cars or vans, both of which have had CO2 limits in place for years.

The legislation will apply to all heavy duty vehicles, but at first the target is only binding for large trucks, which make up 65 percent of HDVs. The EU will look into extending the scope to buses, coaches, trailers and smaller trucks as part of a review in four years. They will also firm up the 2030 target at that time and decide whether to raise it.

The proposal will now head to the European Parliament and the Council of 28 national EU governments, who can adjust it or reject it. A fierce lobbying battle lies ahead.